Divination is a fascinating art. No, not the art of fascination, that’s completely different. We’re talking about seeing the truth here, and I don’t just mean the future. Divination can be used for all sorts of information. It can give advice, explain a situation, and, of course, tell the future.

Divination is an age-old art. At least that’s what my books tell me, but I’ve only been at it for a year. Personally, I use tarot.

I like the tarot. It has so many applications, spreads, uses, and a general feeling of awe about it. But tarot isn’t the only form of divination that has worked for me. I have also used runes, the Ouija board (yes, the one you buy at Toys’R Us), and a pendulum.

For me, my excursions with divination began long before thoughts of Witchcraft even entered my mind. I think I was about 10 when my friends and I used our first Ouija board. The usual “you’re moving it!” and “am not” remarks abounded between questions to “The Spirit World, ” such as, “Who are you?” and “What do you want?”

We never took it too seriously, and everything was fun and games at that age.

When we got bored with it, we used to ask questions about whether or not the board and the spirit realm were full of malarkey. We’d move the pointer deliberately to yes, and laugh at our own ingenuity. We forced the board and “any spirits around it” to admit to their utter stupidity and lack of power. But one day the girl who owned the board, Regina, refused to bring it out to play with. We asked her why not and she simply said she didn’t want to any more. Assuming she had simply grown tired of the game, we moved on to yet another Milton Bradley classic.

But one day a friend of ours had a really important question for the board, and when we asked Regina to bring it out, she refused. Growing curious as to her aversion of the Ouija board, we pressed the issue. She finally admitted that it scared her and she didn’t like it any more. When asked why it scared her, she proceeded to lead us into her house and up to her bedroom door. She told us to be quiet and listen. We stood silent and heard nothing.

“It’s in my closet, ” she said, and we opened the door and proceeded inside.

Once we were in the room with the closet opened, she pointed to her dresser, which had begun to rattle. She was stark white at this point, and we simply figured that the rattling was due to our moving about. When we were all still, we noticed that her furniture and items were still rattling quite audibly. It had nothing to do with us. The room had been silent prior to entry, and now it shook, even when we were still.

Regina raised an accusatory finger to the Ouija board and ran from the room, followed closely by the rest of us. Her parents disposed of the game shortly after that, and as Regina hoped, the tremors stopped. That sure scared the socks off of us, and created a new-found awe and reverence for the occult in the minds of a few young children, myself included.

So what works for me now? I specialize in tarot. I think it’s wonderfully insightful, and can bring to light things which I might never have known would influence a situation. When I was very new at this, I decided to do my own reading. I was very concerned at this point about the prospect that I was actually worshipping the Christian Devil by practicing witchcraft.

I knew that I didn’t believe that Satan had anything to do with modern day Wicca, and that what I was practicing simply affirmed many of the beliefs I held as a young child, before I was forced to grow up and accept the reality of my parents.

After doing a meditation on the tarot, and the symbolism of the cards, I picked out six cards that held the most meaning for me. They included Temperance, the Page of Swords and the Nine of Swords. proceeded to do the Celtic Cross spread, which I found in Ray Buckland’s “big blue book of rainy day Wicca fun”. I used Temperance as the significator, to represent myself. I shuffled the deck seven times, because I learned from my physics teacher that you must shuffle a deck of cards seven times in order for them to be fully mixed.

The first card I laid down was the Nine of Swords! This was simply exhilarating. The first card out was one which I felt had much meaning for me. Lo and behold, the second card I turned over was the Page of Swords. As I did the rest of the spread, I was shocked, amazed, alarmed, and somewhat frightened by the reading’s accuracy.

The highlight of the spread was when I flipped over card number nine, that which was either my greatest hope, or my greatest fear.

My eyes bulged as I saw the Devil card staring me in the face! My chief fear of Witchcraft had been recognized, and my faith in the power of the tarot had been confirmed. I hold much stock in the validity of the Tarot now, as it has served me well in many instances in the past. I uncover knowledge which was virtually unknown to anyone else when I do spreads for people I meet. The looks of pure astonishment that I get from skeptics when I uncover their past, and open up possibilities for their future are all the reward I need for plying my trade these days.

I basically stick to my Univeral-Waite Tarot deck now, though Runes hold a strong interest for me. I have recently created my own rune set in my ceramics class. I can’t wait to use them! Any advice I could give would be to say that one should get their hands on absolutely any form of divination that interests them. Do much reading on the subject, and practice, practice, practice!

I must also suggest studying the Tarot. It is a true work of art, on both the physical level, and on the psychological and magickal levels too. Tarot can be used for divination, magick, astral projection, Qaballah, meditation, and a variety of other things. It is a beautifully crafted tool and a wonderful aid on the path to further enlightenment.

Much like the Hermit card portrays, the Tarot can be a light on the dark road to self-knowledge, and hey, it’s tons of fun at parties too!